Released in 1980, director/writer Samuel Fuller’s ‘The Big Red One’
combines modern film technology with something of the sensibility of a
‘40s war film. A touch old-fashioned and decidedly episodic, ‘Big Red’
still has dramatic punch.

‘The Bed Red One’ takes its title from the insignia on the uniforms of
the U.S. Army’s First Infantry Division (filmmaker Fuller was part of
"the Fighting First" in WWII). A sepia-toned, nightmarelike prologue
establishes both the origins of the symbol and the incident that
forever after haunts the nameless soldier (Lee Marvin) who, by WWII,
has become a veteran sergeant in the Fighting First. The men under him
include a youthful quartet (Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bobby Di
Cicco, Kelly Ward) who are eventually dubbed "the Sergeant’s Four
Horsemen" due to their uncanny ability to emerge alive from the worst
firefights. These include battles in North Africa, Sicily and Belgium,
as well as the hellish D-Day landing on Omaha Beach.

If nothing else did, this last brings inevitable comparisons to the
Normandy invasion sequence in ‘Saving Private Ryan.’ Given the
chronology, one can see echoes of ‘The Big Red One’ within ‘Ryan.’ ‘The
Big Red One’ D-Day scenes in Chapter 15 and 16 admittedly aren’t nearly
as horrific -- the bravado level of the soldiers is a bit much -- but
the setpiece still does a pretty good job of conveying the mindset of
men who come to believe that their own survival and sanity depends on
cutting off sympathy for those around them. There is a measure of
sentimentality here, as well as patriotic pride, but Fuller takes care
to make parallels between the two sides, allowing the Germans as well
as the Allies moments of heroism.

‘The Big Red One’ has some surprises as well, starting with a
well-staged, tense beach landing. The day-for-night footage has a muddy
quality, but the action is powerful. Chapter 6 has beautiful color
reproduction, with painterly blue smoke billowing through brilliant
orange flames. Chapters 19 and 22 have wonderful artillery sounds,
though when the film goes quiet, the sound on the DVD has a tendency to
nearly bottom out. The contrast makes the loud battles even more
impressive, but a slightly sharper ambient track would be agreeable.

The notion that war is hell is hardly new, but Fuller puts his version
of the message across with technical skill, irony and conviction. He
persuades us that he knows whereof he speaks, which gives ‘The Big Red
One’ its power.